


Little Robin

by extrastellar



Series: SuperBatFam [6]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Baby Name Reveal, Bat Family, Family Dynamics, Future Fic, Gen, Pregnancy, Superfamily (DCU), superbatfam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2019-12-29 19:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18300692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extrastellar/pseuds/extrastellar
Summary: Steph's baby is overdue and who better to complain to than the Big Bad Bat himself?





	Little Robin

"This sucks so bad, B."

Bruce hummed and turned the page in his book. It was thundering and raining outside and he was just glad he wasn't on the patrol plan tonight. It was his one day of the week off, at his family's insistence.

"Bruuuuuuce."

"Yes, Stephanie."

"Can you induce my labor?"

Bruce sighed. "Most certainly not. I'm not a doctor."

Steph huffed and propped her feet up on the coffee table which earned her a raised eyebrow from her foster father. "Your dad was."

"I inherited his fortune, not his MD."

"You helped deliver Helena!"

"An experience I do not want to repeat." Bruce turned another page. "I was also only there to monitor Selina's and Helena's vitals during the birth and let her break my arm. Helena's namesake delivered her."

Steph huffed again. "This sucks."

Bruce realised that he would not get very far with his book, so he put a bookmark in and placed it on the coffee table. Steph was three days past her due date and _anxious_. Also mostly annoyed at the fact that the baby did not want to leave, as it seemed.

"It's not unusual", Bruce said.

"I know it's not. Still sucks. You can't relate, B!" Steph pointed an accusing finger at him. "How many times have you been pregnant?"

She had a valid point. Bruce had little knowledge of pregnancies. Selina had been out of town for most of her pregnancy with Helena, he hadn't even _known_ about Talia's pregnancy and he really did not have more experiences with pregnant women. Sure, he had caught the occasional tale from Clark about Lois' habits back when she was pregnant with Laney and then Jon, or from Barry about Iris during _her_ pregnancy with the twins, and Kory had stayed with Dick at the Manor a lot when she was pregnant with Mar'i and then with Jake. But that had been different.

Bruce settled for a grunt.

Thunder rumbled outside, closer now, and Steph grimaced, rubbing her belly.

"No need to kick like that, it's just Gotham weather", she told the swell of her bump. Bruce couldn't help but watch in a mix of fondness and fascination as she talked to her unborn baby.

Selina had been pragmatic about her pregnancy. When Bruce and her had split up for good, neither of them had known she was pregnant. When she found out, she filled Bruce in, kept him updated about the state of the baby and they discussed custody and how they would manage. There hadn't been any "talking to the belly" — or at least, none Bruce had witnessed.

"This actually calms them?", Bruce asked. Steph and Nick decided to let their baby's gender be a surprise. 'No spoilers', to quote Stephanie.

Steph shrugged. "A little bit." She grimaced again and moved to rub her lower back. "Damn."

"Back pain?", Bruce asked.

"Yeah, all day already", Steph said and patted the top of her belly. "Guess that's what you get for carrying almost three kilos on your front, B."

"I wouldn't know."

They fell into silence again, Steph browsing on her phone and Bruce starting another attempt at his book.

"Daaaaaaaaad!"

Bruce sighed and put his book away again, just in time for Helena to storm in.

"God", he muttered. "Did you go outside? You're dripping."

Helena shook her head, making water fly everywhere. Including Bruce's book, he mournfully noticed. The girl had spent too much time with Damian. He had the habit of shaking out his wet hair, mostly to annoy whoever was sitting next to him (his usual victim was Tim), Helena picked it up from him. "Nuh-uh, I just opened my window."

"You need to change into dry clothes, Lena", Bruce said. Not only was her hair dripping, but her clothes were wet as well. "You'll catch a cold."

Helena crossed her arms in defiance and tilted her chin up. Definitely too much time around Damian. And Mar'i. Jon and Billy were too kind-hearted to be so stubborn. "I won't!"

"But if you do, Len", Steph said. "You can't meet my baby when they're born!"

"I won't get sick", Helena insisted. "I'm not even cold!"

Bruce could literally hear her teeth chatter. "Helena, you're freezing. Change, now."

She stuck her tongue out at him and ran out before he could reprimand her.

"You've got good reins on her", Steph mused, a smug grin on her lips.

"I played a minuscule role in how she was brought up", Bruce grumbled. "Damian, Jon, Billy, Terry and Matt did most of the raising. Not for lack of trying on my behalf."

"That's 'cause siblings are cooler", Steph added. "Dick moans about it all the time, how Mar'i raised Jake more than Kory and he did."

"I assume it's inevitable", Bruce said with a long, drawn-out sigh. He rose and rolled his shoulders, back cracking. "I'll see that she showers and actually changes. Will you be alright?"

"Sure", Steph said. "If I need anything, I'll just light the Batsignal."

Bruce's flat look in response made her grin.

"What? I might need to! The Manor is ridiculously big."

He sighed and left the room, crossed the hall and made his way to the family wing. All the kids' rooms were still open, much to Alfred's chagrin, but neither Bruce nor Clark wanted to close them and send their grown-up children into guest rooms when they came over. Apart from that, Damian, Billy, Jon and Helena still lived at the Manor and used their rooms on a daily basis (Jon less, since he was split between Gotham and Metropolis and Terry and Matt were still living with their mother).

He knocked on the door to Helena's room and pushed it open when she called to come in.

His youngest daughter's bedroom walls were plastered with cat posters and photos of cute bats she had found on the internet and printed out. It was sweet, but a bit overwhelming.

"Oh, hey Dad", Billy said where he was helping his sister get out of layers of wet clothes sticking to her body. "Lena, holy moly, are you wearing another top?! That's number three!"

"I didn't want to get cold!", she complained.

"Uh-huh."

"Hey! It's the truth!"

"That why you soaked to the bones?"

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Whatever", Billy said and tossed a few pieces of dry clothes her way. "Get in the shower, you fish. I'm not helping you out of the rest."

"Bleh." Helena threw her short, wet hair back and waddled into the ensuite bathroom. "You stink, Billy!"

"Aw, I love you too, kitten!", Billy called and tossed a towel after her. "Don't forget to towel off after!"

"And brush your hair", Bruce added. He had had to brush Helena's hair a couple months back and it had been a mess of matted tangles. Helena had cried with each brush (even though Bruce had been so careful!) and eventually snatched the brush out of his hands to run to Damian's room, who had much more experience with long hair thanks to babysitting Mar'i a lot.

Bruce did not want to repeat such a brushing session.

"Yeeeeeeees", Helena sing-songed and shortly after the shower started running.

"Thank you, Billy", Bruce said and rubbed his temple.

"I get to annoy a baby sibling? You don't have to thank me", Billy said with a wide grin. "But I do have to study, so if you or Dames could take care of the post-shower stuff, that would be amazing."

"Of course." Bruce nodded. "You focus on your studies, I will attempt to handle your sister."

"Emphasis on the _attempt_."

"Billy."

Billy lifted his hands and sauntered out of the room. "O-kay, I'll be off."

Bruce sat on the part of Helena's bed that wasn't covered with sweet wrappers (where did she even get those? Mar'i probably smuggled them in for her) and glanced at the framed pictures on her left nightstand. While the right one was covered with hairbands and more sweet wrappers, the left nightstand was exclusively for the photos. There was one picturing the entirety of the family: Clark, Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, Babs, Steph, Cass, Duke, Damian, Billy, Terry, Matt, Harper, Cullen, Luke, Kate, Chris, Conner, Bran, Laney, Jon, Kara and Mon, another showing Helena and her mother and another depicted Helena and Mar'i as toddlers, holding baby Jake (god, had they all been that small once?).

She had had an assignment in school to bring a picture of her family, but she hadn't found one of _all_ of them, so she had asked Alfred to help her pick out some. She had never returned them, instead they rested in frames next to her bed now.

Bruce smiled. She was feisty, but at her core, quite similar to Damian, Helena was a sweet child.

The shower shut off and a few minutes later, Helena came running out, dressed in dry pyjamas, but her hair dripping everywhere. Again.

"Lena", Bruce said.

Helena skidded to a stop. "Uh-oh."

Bruce lunged and grabbed his daughter, who was shrieking with laughter, when he blew a raspberry on her shoulder while she thrashed in his hold.

"Stop! Stop!", she shrieked, her face turning red and Bruce let her go, a broad smile on his own face.

"So what will you do now, young lady?"

Helena rolled her eyes. "Towel off my hair and get the blow dryer."

"Exactly. Now shoo."

Bruce sat back, waiting for Helena to come back out so he could help her with blow-drying her hair, but a call from downstairs made him sit back up.

"Bruce?!", Stephanie called, obviously distressed.

"Lena, I'll be right back", Bruce called and left his daughter's room, walking quickly to the staircase.

Steph stood at the bottom, one hand clutching her belly, the other the handrail.

Every alarm possible went off in Bruce's head.

"Steph." He hurried down the stairs. "Stephanie, what's wrong?"

Was it the baby? What if she needed an emergency c-section like the first time? They weren't equipped or able to perform a c-section!

"I think I'm going into labor, B", Steph said, her voice small and face pale. "I just thought it was back pain, but then I realised those pains were coming in intervals and those intervals were getting shorter and—"

"Okay, calm down, Steph, don't panic", Bruce said and took her shoulders, willing his own panic down. "Look at me. It will be alright. I will call Nick and drive you to the hospital, alright?"

Steph, still pale as a sheet, nodded and let herself be escorted into the next room that offered anything comfortable. She grimaced when another contraction seized her.

"How far are they apart?", Bruce asked while whipping out his phone.

"Three minutes-ish?", Steph said, still grimacing.

"Three .. minutes?!" Bruce almost dropped the phone. He knew enough about childbirth and pregnancy to realise that this was not a lot. "Stephanie, why haven't you—"

"Please just call Nick, okay?!", Steph pressed through her clenched teeth and Bruce, for once, did not reprimand her for ordering him around, and hit Nick's contact.

" _Gage, GCPD"_ , a male voice picked up after a few rings.

"Nicholas, this is Bruce Wayne", Bruce said. "Stephanie has gone into labor."

He heard something drop at the other end of the line, followed by swearing.

" _Labor? The baby— she's sure?_ ", Nick asked, sounding out of breath.

Bruce glanced at Steph on the couch, looking wholly uncomfortable and very, very pregnant. "Yes. I will get her to the next hospital—"

" _The bridges are blocked, Mr Wayne_ ", Nick said. " _With the thunderstorm and the rise of the river, firefighters recommended to block them. There's no way inside. Oh god. Or outside. Shit, how am I gonna—_ "

Bruce swore under his breath. Batman could get Steph across the river into town, probably, but he had seen the news and the river was dangerous right now, even for the Batsub. The chopper was out of question too, the winds and the lightning would trash it.

"I'll call you back", Bruce said curtly and hung up, ignoring Nick's cry of protest.

"B?", Steph asked, but Bruce marched out of the room, up the stairs and slammed the doors to Billy's room open.

"Dad?", Billy asked slowly and rolled his chair back from his desk, hand moving to pause the music sounding from his speakers. "Something wrong?"

"Stephanie's baby is coming", Bruce said. "The Gotham bridges are locked off because of the storm. I need you to fly her into town, into a hospital."

"Oh crap", Billy swore and scrambled to his feet. "Yeah, of course, right now?"

"Right now."

"SHAZAM!"

Bruce turned away to not be blinded by the lighting shooting through the ceiling and hitting his son. When he turned back, Captain Marvel was standing in Billy Batson's bedroom, looking as determined as they come.

"Alright, go, go", Bruce said. "Cast a shielding spell on her when you fly her."

Captain Marvel nodded and dashed downstairs, Bruce at his heels.

"Billy?", Steph wrenched out when her brother in his immortal form scooped her up from where she had been crouching.

"We gotta get you into town through the air", Billy said. "Bridges are locked down."

Steph groaned. "Of all the days— ow, ow, _ow_. Man, Gotham's infrastructure _sucks_."

Billy held her a bit closer and murmured something. When he finished, a pale golden glow enveloped Steph's body. "I've got you, Steph."

"Oh, you better", Steph muttered and let out a pained hiss when another contraction hit. "Oh god. Go, go, Billy, holy shit, this is really happening—"

Billy didn't waste any more time and shot out of the Manor towards the city.

Bruce hit the automatic redial and this time, Nick picked up before the first ring even finished.

" _Mr Wayne, never cut me off like that when something like Steph's and our baby's health are at stake_!", he actually snapped and Bruce couldn't even be mad at him. Nick was right.

"Billy is taking her into town", he said instead. "I am tracking them, I will send you the data within a minute. It's all taken care of."

" _Okay okay_ ", Nick said, still sounding short of breath. " _I'll get the doula and her overnight bag and head wherever she's headed right away. Thanks, Mr Wayne._ "

Nick hung up and Bruce let out a breath he hadn't noticed he had been holding.

Anxiety was curling in his stomach.

Had he made the right call? Steph was not a first-time mother, but her first birth had been a c-section. A hospital birth would be best for her. No one here was a trained medical professional — sure, they could all perform minor surgeries and stitch themselves back up, but delivering a baby? Even Alfred's all-round skills stopped there.

Should he have called Clark instead? Even though his husband was in Shanghai, helping out Kenan and the Justice League of China? Or Chris, Bran, Laney, Conner or Jon?

No, while the Kryptonians might be faster than Billy, they wouldn't be able to protect Steph from the rain, wind and the lighting.

Billy was the only one who could safely pull this stunt off.

"Father?"

Bruce turned to see Damian at the foot of the stairs, holding Helena's hand, the nine-year-old looking quite spooked, her hair up in a towel turban.

"Stephanie's baby is coming, Billy had to fly her into town", Bruce explained. "The bridges were locked off and both chopper and Batsub would be too dangerous."

Damian nodded. "I see."

"Steph will be alright, right?", Helena asked, brown eyes fearful. "And her baby too?"

Bruce crouched next to his daughter and tapped her nose. "Of course. You know Stephanie. She is tough."

"But her baby—!"

"— will be alright", Bruce said, keeping his voice calm and reassuring. "As soon as they open the bridges again, we call your brothers and sisters and get to the hospital, yeah?"

Helena nodded. "Okay! Damian, help me wrap the baby gifts!"

"Don't order me around, you little stray", Damian muttered and ushered his little sister upstairs. "Go!"

"Sí, sí", Helena moaned. "No eres mi madre, Damian."

"Soy tu hermano. What are you waiting for? Go."

Bruce watched his two youngest go back upstairs. Selina made an effort of raising Helena bilingual, but since she only saw her twice a month on weekends, that made it quite tough. Jason had started talking to his baby sister in Spanish a while back and soon enough, most of the family who knew the language joined in.

Bruce's League communicator beeped.

" _B_ ", Clark's voice spoke in his ear. " _Is everything okay over there? Steph's and Billy's heartbeats spiked like crazy._ "

"Steph's having the baby", Bruce said after tapping on his communicator. "Billy has to fly her in, there's no other way into town with this storm."

Something crashed on the other end of the line and an inhuman shriek echoed. " _Give me two minutes to finish this up, I'll be right there."_

"You sound busy", Bruce said just as Clark grunted and another of those inhuman shrieks pierced their conversation, much closer.

" _Please_ ", Clark groaned and Bruce could hear his heat vision flare up, followed by another scream. " _I ain't gonna miss my grandchild's birth because of some spiritually powered goblins._ "

"You say 'ain't' one more time and I'll file for divorce."

Clark laughed. " _Love ya too, B. See you in a bit!"_

 

* * *

 

  
The bridges were reopened shortly after dawn and Bruce wasted no time in getting Damian, Helena and Alfred into a car to drive to West Mercy Hospital where Billy had brought Steph, according to Nick.

Where Steph and her daughter were.

Bruce hadn't slept a lot last night (how unusual) and sometime around 2am he had received a message from Steph's number. A picture of a very wrinkly baby with a tuft of brunet hair and brown eyes, accompanied by a text:

 

> _› Mom and Baby are alright :)_

Bruce had immediately forwarded the picture to the rest of the family and everyone who had been inside Gotham at the time had gone to the hospital as soon as possible, while Damian, Bruce, Helena and Alfred were stuck at the Manor until the bridges were clear again.

"There you are!"

Bruce turned away from the receptionist. He was wearing a hat and fake beard, same as Damian, Helena had just settled for sunglasses, to remain unrecognised, and for a moment he feared a pap recognised them anyway, but it was Nick calling them.

Nick, who looked like an utter mess, had dark bags under his eyes and whose clothes were rumpled and hair dishevelled, but who beamed like the sun.

"Nick!", Helena crowed and ran over. "I wanna see Steph's baby!"

Nick grinned and ruffled her hair. "And you will, pumpkin!"

Helena glared and readjusted her hairstyle. "Pumpkin? Do I look orange to you? You got me mixed up with Kory?"

Damian snorted.

"Kids", Bruce sighed. "Let's just go meet your niece."

Helena stormed off, Damian at her heels to make sure she didn't go where she was not supposed to.

"I trust everything went well, Mr Gage?", Alfred asked. Bruce and Nick were walking slower, taking Alfred's age into consideration.

"Yeah", Nick said and ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "I got here a few minutes after B— Captain Marvel brought Steph in. They wheeled her into the delivery ward at once and the actual birth went over smoothly, the docs said." He chuckled. "I almost fainted and Steph was so tough."

Bruce inspected the man's appearance again. It was safe to say that Nick had not gotten even an eyeful of sleep, but he still glowed. Quite similar to Dick, after Mar'i's and Jake's births. Briefly, Bruce wondered whether he had looked the same after Helena's had been born.

"And here we are!", Nick said and pushed open a door.

Stephanie was in the private wing, had her own room. Bruce had paid the hospital generously to give his family this privacy. The last thing they all needed was paparazzi.

Steph's room was already packed. Cass and Tim were sitting on her bed, talking to her, Harper and Cullen cooed at the crib and Conner sat amidst a jungle of flowers and balloons.

"B! Al!", Steph called out. "Dames, Lena, you finally got here!"

Her blond hair was up in a messy bun and her face was still a bit red, but she beamed like the sun, same as her husband, who immediately drifted to her side.

"Please apologise the delay, Miss Stephanie", Alfred said with a soft smile.

Nick pressed a kiss to the top of Steph's head and waved it off. "No worries. Everything went well and you're all here now."

Helena marched up to the bed and gave Stephanie a scrutinising once-over. "Did the baby hurt you?"

Bruce sighed. Definitely too much time around Damian.

"I'm fine, Lena", Steph said and shifted up in her bed with a slight wince. "Harper, could you give her to me?"

Harper lifted the small bundle out of the crib and Helena's eyes grew wide as saucers as Steph took the child and carefully tilted her to show her.

"Wow, she's small", Helena whispered and Damian came up behind her to look at his niece, sharp face easing into a tender smile. Around his nieces and nephews, he turned soft as putty.

"What's her name?", Bruce asked.

Conner, Tim, Harper, Cass and Cullen groaned, causing Bruce to frown.

"You will think it's a joke", Tim warned.

Cass nodded in agreement.

For one horrible moment, Bruce thought they had named the baby Brucilla like Steph had threatened to a few months ago.

"B", Stephanie said and waved him over. Her grin was making him very anxious. "Meet your granddaughter—"

"— Robyn Cassandra Gage", Nick completed.

Bruce stared. Stared at Steph. Them at Nick. Then at the baby.

At _Robyn_.

"I like her second name", Cass piped up.

"You— you named your _firstborn_ after— Stephanie, good lord, after a masked vigilante's persona?", Bruce managed to get out. He was speechless. Actually speechless. There were a million more things he would like to say, but who knew if this room as bugged. This was still Gotham, after all. Tim signed at him that he had cleared the room of all bugs when he noticed him stumbling over his words.

"We thought it a nice tribute to the sacrifices and deeds the Robins have done for Gotham", Nick said, eyes twinkling the same way as Steph's.

Bruce rubbed his face, but held his arms out after. "Fine. _Fine_. May I hold _Robyn_?"

Damian snickered. "Why, Father, we both aren't the hugging type."

Cass high-fived him and Cullen snorted. "Hah."

Bruce decided to forego his son's comment and cradled his newborn granddaughter against his chest. She was a precious little thing, making tiny, whining noises in the back of her throat and her chubby fists still flailing.

"Well, hello", Bruce said and sighed before he continued. "Robyn."

Robyn mewled at him and ridiculous name or not, Bruce already knew he would take a bullet for her anytime.

"Aww, B", Steph cooed. "Look at you, proud grandpa."

Bruce didn't deny it. He had screwed up his children's lives because he didn't show them he loved and valued them. The same thing would not happen to his grandkids.

"Well", he said and gently bounced on his heels to rock Robyn. "As long as you do not name your second child something as ridiculous as Batty."

Steph only grinned.

 

 


End file.
